Bitdefender Tops AV-Test's Latest Android Security Review

Earlier this week, AV-Test released the latest results in its continuing look at Android security. Only three apps failed to get certified, and the average detection rate of all the apps jumped up to 96 percent. Despite the close competition, Bitdefender Mobile Security came out on top.

Winners and Losers Of the apps tested, only three failed to be certified by AV-Test. SPAMfighter VIRUSfighter Android, SUVsoft Mobile Security, and AegisLab Antivirus Free failed for a number of reasons. AegisLab, however, is notable for having the lowest detection rate of the bunch at 58 percent.

Notable in this round of testing was a shakeup among the top contenders. F-Secure, McAfee, and Symantec had perfect scores back in April. Several other high-scoring apps from previous tests, like Sophos and TrustGo, dipped slightly in the most recent results.

Here's a summary of the results.

The State of Android Security Andreas Marx, CEO at AV-Test, told SecurityWatch that across the board detection rates were high and getting higher. "The malware protection rate was in the range of 58-100 percent, with an average detection rate of 96 percent." That's up from an average 93 percent earlier this year, particularly impressive considering that AV-Test used a slate of 2,545 malicious apps—nearly double the previous test.

Better still, Marx said that false positive detection still remains low. "The majority of our products showed no or only one false positive during our tests," he said, though he noted that one product—SUVsoft—had 15 false alarms.

In general, it seems like mobile security developers are doing a good job responding to the needs of users. Marx wrote that, "the impact of battery life, the slow-down of mobile devices caused by the security apps and the generated traffic was rather low." People used to the bad old days of PC anti-virus don't have to worry about that experience on their cell phone.

Which Should You Get?The norm for Android security apps is a free download and a trial period, followed by a paid subscription to unlock all the features. These range in price from product to product, but as you can see there's a wide variety of high-scoring apps from which to choose.

Bitdefender is a top-notch product, and only costs $9.95 per year, while avast! is clearly no shrinking violet and is completely free. Some companies, like Bitdefender and Comodo, have their for-pay services as well as smaller, free (or cheap) apps that just do one thing—like antivirus or anti-theft.

Whatever you chose to protect your phone, just make sure it works for you. Having security software you don't use or can't figure out is just as bad as not having security software.

Max Eddy is a Software Analyst, taking a critical eye to Android apps and security services. He's also PCMag's foremost authority on weather stations and digital scrapbooking software. When not polishing his tinfoil hat or plumbing the depths of the Dark Web, he can be found working to discern the 100 Best Android Apps.
Prior to PCMag, Max wrote for the International Digital Times, The International Science Times, and The Mary Sue. He has also been known to write for Geek.com. You can follow him on...
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